Blood. The Nightmare
Have you guys heard of the game... Blood? No, don't answer that, I’m sure you haven't. Don’t get me wrong, the game does exist, it's just... considered abandonware. Here's a little history lesson for you, when 3D Realms was celebrating their success for Duke Nukem 3D, they began 2 projects right after: one was called "Shadow Warrior", while the other was called "Blood". The game was set to be released in 1996 right after most of the expansion packs for Duke, but this was a ploy to continue its long line of success in their company by releasing different series using modified versions of the build engine. This modified version was to enable the use of more sprites while using more voxels in one screen at one time. Nearing its completion, Monolith games bought Blood off 3D Realms and completed it shortly after. It was released in June 20, 1997, however, it was overshadowed by Id software. Blood had to compete with Quake 2 and Hexen 2, which used a more advanced engine at the time, because of this, Blood was easily overlooked. Monolith released an expansion pack known as "Plasma", while 3D Realms released the second expansion pack known as "Cryptic Passage". These didn’t help and ultimately the game was forgotten and lost. I’m dead serious, the source code for Blood was never released to the public, thus modding the game itself is considered impossible. I remember my father playing Duke Nukem 3D often while I was growing up. I used to watch him plow through hordes of enemies using unique weapons and listening to the hilarious dialogue Duke was known for. At the time, I was 8, so most of my memory is rather fuzzy, yet the "Blood" was something I remember most. This isn't a nostalgia trip, in fact, my father insisted that I never watch him. He said the game was too violent and gory, and he said it might give me nightmares, so I had never really seen the gameplay. That's all I can remember... Sitting in my apartment, I finished my homework and decided it was time to relax for a bit, so I listened to music as I looked through countless wads for Doom. Having Doom on Steam, I wanted to find one that would be fun to play. But then, I came across a link for Blood, which is here. The game itself is fun and addicting to play, and after seeing how I can get it for free, I decided to jump on it and give it a shot. No viruses, no malware, nothing...It is a complete rip of the game and works just fine. Look into the link and give a shot yourself, if you wish. Though you may be asking...How is this creepy at all? I know this may sound like a cliche or misuse of blood, but this game is exactly what the title says it is. There is a lot of blood, and sometimes, it is very exaggerated. It is something for you to take a look at and see for yourself, otherwise this story would just sound like the kind of experience most bad creepy stories will often tell. After several months of playing Blood and beating it over and over again, I looked into the history of the game and wondered why this isn't really known to people. How can this forgotten relic be unknown to gamers all around? Duke was an amazing game and this would've top 3D Realms charts. In fact, I believe that Blood would have dethroned the king from his chair if it had been known. After hours of research and reading what little I could find on the game itself, it was time to call it a day. I left my computer on overnight so that the virus scan could do its thing while I slept. The next day, I noticed Chrome was up and minimized. It was on a site that I don't remember visiting that previous night...It was a wikia page with a link on it. However the wiki didn't have any other information on it, except for "Blood" as a header and the link. At first, I was reluctant to click on it and had passed it off as a disconnection from my IP. So I closed the window, trying not to think about it, only hoping that I could forget about it. During class, that link was on my mind, I couldn't for the life of me get it out of my head. I knew if I had clicked on it, something weird or retarded might have happened, but curiosity got the better of me, and I went to my history, finding and opening the page with the link. I did what anyone would do, I clicked the link, which only refreshed the page and populated it with information about Blood and another link containing a modified version of the game. Red flags flew into my mind, the source code was never released, so how can a mod exist? I closed the window, saying "fuck it". About 5 minutes later, my computer detected a virus and I freaked out a bit. It took some time to clear up the mess that the link had given me, but I was able to contain it. However, on my desktop was a .RAR folder with the modded version of Blood...somehow it had downloaded and self-installed to the game folder in my C drive. I sat there, staring at the folder, the game...and thinking about how this could have happened. I scanned the .RAR folder to see if this was just another virus, but it came back negative. With a sigh, I decided to try it after all, it was there and apparently there to stay. The mod was called “Blood: The Nightmare” and its README said that it contained 7 new levels and one hidden exit, with the message, “Try to find me”. Try to find me? what does it mean by that? I thought to myself. Once I started the game, I found myself in an office building. The level was rather well done and was difficult, too. I shotgunned my way through hordes of enemies, blowing them apart with TNT all the while trying to survive that onslaught. As hard as it was, it was a very good mod...Well, I can't exactly say it was a mod, since it was more like an expansion with new levels, for the game didn't really add anything new...at least, that's what I had thought. I finally finished Nightmare with some trouble, but I never did find that secret exit. So again, I played to look for it, checking all corners and crates, looking at all desks and walls, searching for anything that looked off or discolored and could possibly indicate that there might be a secret behind it. On the 5th level, behind a bookshelf, there was a door that led to a secret which held the exit marker. After completing the stage, it took some time for the game to load. When it finally did, I was thrust into a muddy, unfinished level filled with garbage and gargled pixels and voxels. It was difficult to tell if I was falling, standing still, or moving. The only indicator I had was my weapon moving side to side when I walked. How the stage was made, it looked as if I wasn't even progressing in the first place. After a few minutes of what I think was walking, I heard “Welcome” before suddenly dying...one hit, one kill, and I don't even know what hit me. I started again and made it to the same stage once more, only to once again hear “Welcome” and die in the same manner as before. This happened three more times before DOSbox crashed due to low memory. I started the game again, deciding to skip the secret all together, but the title screen changed. It kinda took me off guard and caused me to stare at my computer screen in confusion. The gargoyle that sits in front of the title with “Blood" beneath it now was animated. It looked the same, but now it only said “Nightmare.” All of the options were working and a new episode had been added. Though a bit uncreative, it just said "Blood" as the name of the episode. I started in the same room as you usually do in Episode One, level one, but this time, the walls showed pictures of real violence, not just still but also animated ones. If you shot or stabbed the wall, some blood would squirt out, or if you just waited long enough, you would see it anyway. There was a child who was beaten to death, a man cutting his own fingers off with a knife, some pictures of cannibalism, and it only grew worse the more I progressed. The monsters acted normally, but said nothing when they activated, not only that but they moved much faster. On top of that, there was only one difficulty and it was set on hard. Needless to say, this was relentless to get through. I died, and when I respawned, I noticed that the monsters I had managed to kill stayed dead. However, I also saw my own dead body, and every time I died and came back, I could see where I had last died. The further I went, the harder it was, and soon enough, my dead bodies littered everywhere on the levels. Eventually, DOSbox crashed once again due to low memory. I stopped for awhile, thinking to myself about this. I wasn't scared, but genuinely creeped out and disgusted. However, I wanted to see the ending of this so-called "mod", so once again, I booted the game up. This time, the gargoyle was absent from the title screen, and a new option came up..."Continue". I spawned in the same room as you do when you start Episode One, level one again, and I saw that the were textures back to normal. When I jumped out of the grave, I noticed my body laying in front of me. All of the secret items were missing, along with all of the weapons. All I had was the pitchfork. I found more of my bodies laying on the ground, more and more and more littering the entire area. The monsters that were there were now completely static and turning their view away from me, even when I circled them, they kept looking the opposite direction. They could be killed but just wouldn't attack me. When I reached the end of the stage, there where countless bodies of myself. The game didn't let me go to the next level, instead I lost control of my character. It turned around and I watched the player character try to defend himself and try to get away from...himself...the other character said nothing at all, but stabbed me as much as it could while I was attempting to run away. I heard my character wheezing and breathing hard as if genuine fear took over. I watched as more of the bodies rose and walked slowly towards my location, like how some of the monsters would normally do when they were trying to get to you, but with much smarter AI. I watched as the hero struggled and tried to get away. I couldn't see what weapons they were using because of how the old the game was, but I did notice that they were damaging my character. I watched as his health slowly drained until he died. I still wasn't in control, nor could I respawn. I just saw the camera point upward and look into the hundreds of NPCs that looked like my character. Then they all turned in one direction as if they were looking at something. The final boss of the game walked up and stood in front of me, swinging his arm. The screen flashed red and spurts of gore flew upwards. I shut the game down and took a deep breath, having a cigarette to calm me down. I went back to the wiki site that had the link, but surprise, surprise, the site did not exist anymore. I used to think that scary stories of supposedly hunted games were just make believe...but now that I have had something happen to me that I can't exactly explain, it's hard to think what's real and what's not anymore. After my smoke I rebooted Blood again, Nightmare wasn't there, in fact, the .RAR folder and everything inside of it was missing, all except for one text file which read, “You still didn't find me”. I deleted the message and the folder, I wasn't gonna look. It was not worth my sanity, I will still play the original game but not that, not again. ~Kayoska ~Overhauled By: Sir Areis Lionheart Category:CreepyPasta Category:Video Games Category:Reality Category:Real Life